Stockholm Syndrome
by NerdSavvy
Summary: The golden days of youth are over, and the charismatic four have disbanded. Stockholm Syndrome follows the journey these friends take to try to get back to each other, six years after it all went wrong.
1. Chapter 1

Note: _Hi, anybody know me? I've been on a long hiatus... I don't know if I'll pick up my other story, guys. I'm thinking of deleting them, actually. I don't know, tell me what you think. I've missed you._

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Wallflower, which belongs to Tomoko Hayakawa whom- in my humble opinion- is milking this series dry. Get those two together already, huh?

I don't own Tudou University or the Japan Times

Title: Stockholm Syndrome

0: Stockholm Syndrome

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It's hard when you look back at things. If you just keep moving forward, then your memories can't hurt you. The past can't touch you.

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The way things ended were regrettable... No, let me rephrase that. The ending fucking sucked. We all graduated from that shit-hole together, sure... But by that time things in the house were so bad that the graduation ceremony was the first time I'd so much as glimpsed any of my housemates in three months. And then that time was over. Three years, that was what we had. Somehow, we managed to fuck things up pretty badly.

So we all grew up. We went our separate ways. It's like we all chose a different path, and kept walking, walking, walking blindly...

Right now, I feel like I'm stuck in a never-ending tunnel. It's stretching so far I can't find the light at the end of it.

I'm a greedy, selfish, conniving worm. I'm a handsome, suave, clever devil. I'm a coward. I'm a savior, and a captor.

I'm starting to regret. I'm starting to look back.

I've fucked things up quite royally. And at this point in my life, I'm battling with myself. I should fix things, but do I have the strength?

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I've taken over my family's business. Right now, I'm a twenty-four year-old multi-millionaire. I'm not the richest man I know, but I'm definitely well-off. Owning more than 80% of Japan's best hotels kind of sets you apart from the common man.

Every morning I wake up to a beautiful cityscape, through tinted windows a continuous 60 meters long. I head into my nearly 3000 square-meter walk-in closet and pick out my suit for the day, located mainly on the right-hand side, then meticulously separated by designer: Armani, Hickey Freeman, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Mondo Uomo... Am I boring you?

I shower before I dress, but I don't like to anymore because she never wants to join me. She prefers to prepare breakfast, and wait for me whilst watching whatever new cult films she was able to buy off of 'Takeppi,' the part-time bellhop who always- somehow- ends up carrying all of her random toys to our place, the penthouse... She likes him... Or at least she manages to be particularly nice to him. I know it's because his nickname reminds her of someone from the past...

Did I mention we're living in one of my dad's hotels? It makes sense, I mean, why not?

I head to work and... This will bore you, I'll skip it.

Every night for the past two years, I've been coming home to her. My work hours start one hour earlier and end two hours later. Usually, she's cooking dinner in the kitchen, her back to me. I'll give her a kiss on the cheek and she'll respond with a sigh, "welcome home."

She is always relieved to see me. The truth is, she can't stand being without me. I know that the weekdays are torture for her, and secretly, I revel in it. Before her, I'd have a different woman home literally every night. They never needed me, just wanted me. They didn't latch on to me the way her eyes did when they reached me.

She does not love me. She just needs me. After everything started to go sour, those six years ago, her soul just kind of... separated from her body. The anger left her heart, but took her fighting spirit with her.

When we met again, I learned that she had spent all that time in college, at Tudou. Almost immediately following, she was hired by the Japan Times. Now she's the soft-copy editor. She came here saying that she'd seen an article about me at work and decided to look me up. Somehow, we were able to jump right back to how we were... Well, certainly more maturely, but we were more or less the same people. We'd meet maybe twice a week (whenever I was free) for about a month before I suggested she move in with me. The apartment she'd been living in was in a really shady little neighborhood, and some punks had broken in while she'd been out for work and somehow managed to make her home inhabitable within the span of about 68 hours. Ever since then, she's been living with me.

You ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? It's a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed.

Right now I am in bed with her. We don't have sex every night, just whenever I'm really in the mood, because she never refuses me. Tonight we did it twice, and I was kind of rough. It's because I thought of the past again. I glanced behind me, looking to see if I could find the entrance of this damned tunnel... And all I can feel is agitation, and then I take it out on her.

I think she kind of enjoys it, though. Not in a M way. Let me explain: she hates it when we have sex. Every time, after we're (well, after I'm) done, she'll lie next to me totally motionless. She tries to hide it, but the look in her eyes... It's agony. But if I'm gentle, she won't shed a tear, because she doesn't think for a minute that I've caught on to the way things really are. But I do know, maybe better than she does. So when I'm rough, I think... This is a sick thing to say out loud, but I think I' helping her.

Right now, at this very moment, she is in my arms. My head is propped up by pillows and hers is in my chest. Her tears are cold and when they hit my bare skin it prickles all over. She plays it off like she's only crying about how rough I was. But her cries are too rocking and haggard to be about a pain between her hips. I just listen.

"I'm sorry... Sunako, I'm sorry," I coo into her ear, stroking her gorgeous raven hair, as black as I remember it.

And she cries out my name. She never climaxes when I'm making love to her, but she cries out my name afterward, if I can get her to cry, that is.

"Ranmaru!" But it sounds more like a cry for help to me.

You ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome?

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Note: _Just a little experiment, guys... I could do a disney- or at least more Hayakawa-like version if you want. I actually wrote kind of like the treatment for this down in the back of a notebook two years ago. Pulling it out now... Tell me if you like it, okay?_

_Don't worry, guys, I will make it Suna/Kyou in the end... Probably. The thing is, though, I'm gonna take this slow. Not with updating! Well, maybe with that, too... But I mean things are going to happen slowly. Anyway, tell me what you think! Just don't flame the current... Pairing._

_Later Days,_

_NerdSavvy_


	2. Day One

Note: _Okay, here we go..._

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters. Tokyo Tower.

Title: Stockholm Syndrome

1: Day One

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"Looks like rain," she mumbles, setting down her café au lait next to my strawberry shake.

I remain quiet for a while, overlooking the city beneath us; people I could barely see were just going on with their lives, unaware of our existence. Maybe some were staring at this luxurious hotel, wondering who was staying at the Kind Hotel's top suite... But no one was wondering about _us_. She was looking down. Blinking, slowly, so slowly I could see her eyes go out of focus, and refocus when she opened them again after an inhale or exhale. Maybe she was trying to wake up, but then again I always felt like she wasn't really awake anymore. Just... going through the motions.

Her eyes unfocus, slowly. She blinks. Her nostrils flare slightly, feeding her lungs, jolting her brain. I mimic her quietly, and look up as I breath out.

"Yeah... Good, it's fuckin hot." I look back to the city, the view from our narrow balcony. I sneak a look at her from the corner of my eye, and she's smiling.

My heart flutters a little. I smile.

"Let's go somewhere."

"Hmm?" She smiles, lips tight over her teeth, and plays with the froth in her coffee. Every Sunday morning she'll make café au lait for herself, creating soft hearts in the cream, maybe a picture when it's a special occasion. This morning, she predicted a very average Sunday with her roommate.

"We should go out, let's just go out..." I smile at her, maybe a bit desperately, "I feel like... You just stay in here. You know? You need to get out, I mean..."

She looks up at me, her head tilted towards her drink, "What's the problem? If I'm a bother, I can..."

"No, no that's not what I mean and you know it," I place my hand over hers across the small white table and squeeze, "I'm worried-" She snaps out of my grasp.

"Oy, Ranmaru, cut the crap!" This is usually as vulgar as she gets. "You want me out, just say it!" She's so sensitive. "I know I'm just a charity case!"

I jump up so fast, my chair crashes to the floor.

"What??" Is the first thing that flies out of my mouth, " 'the fuck? Is that what you think?!" Of course she begins to retaliate, but I just shout over her, "I'm worried about you is all! I just- I feel... I feel like I'm holding you prisoner in here! It's not healthy!!" And she's raising her voice congruently, "I just- I want you to be happy!" I roared that last part so loud I thought the whole world quaked.

And then everything got quiet. I held her gaze for a while, and then she broke it, clenching her jaw and looking back out to that damn city.

"... Ocean..."

"Huh?"

"Let's go to the beach." I followed her gaze, and realized she meant _the_ beach, a far ways away from our home near the heart of Tokyo. I wanted to ask if she'd ever been there again, but I didn't... Probably not.

I smile at her. "I'll call for a car." Mine was in the shop.

"No, let's take the train," and she finally smiled. Sunako who used to loathe human contact, who was healed of her agoraphobia in the eleventh grade, and then developed another trauma after high school. This Sunako wanted to ride the subway... Her penny-pinching self was coming back.

This may have seemed like something small to you, but to me... Well, since she moved in she gradually found excuses not to leave. You can imagine how things went down after we bought the wii. And then she bought herself a new laptop, and found a way to work completely from home. She stopped wanting to go out and then stopped caring all together.

But the Sunako who used to budget how much she could buy for our meals each month, who cleaned the house like mad... I was catching glimpses of her. On the train ride there, she told me about some creepy documentary she had been watching about cannibalism, and that maniacal glint sparked in her eyes. I couldn't help laughing all throughout, which she chided me for. It was so... Fun. I felt refreshed. It was like taking a long hot bath.

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_Short. But better than nothing, right?_

_I'll update again soon. They might come in small parts like this for a bit._

PLEASE tell me what you think!!

_Peace and love,_

_NerdSavvy_

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	3. Day Two

Note: _Sorry for the wait..._

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters.

Title: Stockholm Syndrome

2: Day Two

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The hanabira swims past the windshield. Mt Bucho winks past. We're steering through the mountains. We're taking the long route. We were on the train, but the closest stop still left us three hours from the beach, by bus. So we rented a nice car close by to the train station.

She rolls down her window, and puts her elbow on the rim, letting her arm hang out, fingers cupped on the off chance that it hits a stray hanabira(1). Her hair tied into one of those sloppy buns that somehow veers away from the image of a tired homemaker and into one of a tired intellectual, something sexy and mysterious, though i know every inch of her...

Somehow, she is still a mystery. An enigma. My puzzle.

We zoom through the mountains and pass by the countryside just for the hell of it. We smile at the maccha fields and the premature koi flags set up for boys day. The sakura season is just winding down. We're headed for the beach. I can smell the ocean before i see it. She lifts her nose to the air and I glance as the mastecloid muscles in her neck, her swanlike neck, long and thin and glowing. It's frail. She's fragile. It's my fault. And remorse...

Self-hatred taps at my shoulder and blows in my ear... But then, just before I am consumed by my own misgivings, she turns to me and flashes her pearly whites, and I break through that darkness. And just like that our day at the beach begins. She pushes a few loose strands of hair behind her ear and hops out of her seat. If I could just look her in the eyes, I'd be saved...

The sun's head creeps over the horizon and red and orange dance over the surface of the big blue. She screams to greet the sun, and opens her arms wide. "Misterrrr Suuuuuuuuunnn!"(2)The rays lick her skin and she glows. She is luminescent... The light comes from her.

I pull my eyes from her glory and greet the rising sun with a familiar grin... this was definitely necessary. I turn off the car, putting the keys in the pocket of my hoodie and start walking to catch up. A murmer from her stops me in my tracks...

"Ocean."

She says it, coming out as smooth as the breeze washing over us. "Umi, umi, umi, umi..."(3) She repeats it like a mantra as she walks forward slowly, her feet traipsing through the sand, feeling it, appreciating the friction. She stomps through the whitewash, making deep impressions in the soft, wet sand.

Just then, she looks over her shoulder at me.

There is no smile on her lips. The laughter is absent from her eyes, but replaced with something else. Her eyes tell me she needed me here. She needed this.

Her lips part slightly, just in the middle...

For a second, I regretted not coming at night: getting busy in the sand with her was a long-lived fantasy of mine... But I know that would ruin everything this trip was supposed to do for her. I push back the throbbing in my chest, and I smile at her.

Before I know it I'm running full speed, pushing sand behind me. The water is at thigh level for her and I tackle her into the sea.

She laughs, from the gut, and the ring fills me with bright tones of optimism.

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We played like that for hours. We looked around with the goggles I'd brought. I searched for pretty shells while Sunako stalked schools of fish. She chased down a shark about to eat a beautiful lone trout. My heart leapt out of my chest, but she merely punched him, and set him on his way.

Amazing, frightening woman.

We built a five-foot tall sand castles and took pictures in front of it, posing as king and queen of an amphibian oligarchy. I struck a particularly awkward pose that made my ribs jut out like gills and Sunako roared with laughter. I followed suit, but too late. Because as my laughter climaxed, hers died down pathetically into what i knew to be her solemn smile and snicker.

And she was looking past me. But she wasn't seeing the horizon, she was looking beyond it, through it to a world that now only existed in her memory...

The look on her face changed, shimmered into a familiar sneer and nostalgia ran through my bones...

So it was a world that was still alive and thriving in _our_ memories...

The five of us, running through adventure after chaotic adventure in the Nakahara mansion. The Charismatic Four and The Crazy Sunako of Morii High.

"How do you think..." She starts, then inhales the ocean breeze. I held my breath, anxiety paralyzing me. "How do you think Oda is doing?"

Ahhhh, to the start of it all...

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_(1) hanabira: flower petals that float on the breeze. (2) I actually wanted her to shout Ohi-sama: _hi_ means sun. Ohi-sama is what little kids call the sun, it's like saying, Mr. Sun. (3) Umi: ocean _

_Short. But better than nothing, right?_

_I'll update again soon. They might come in small parts like this for a bit. I've actually found a way to type up to 1000 characters on my cell, so I've been writing on the subway, or whenever I can._

PLEASE tell me what you think!!

_Peace and love,_

_NerdSavvy_


	4. Day Three

Note: _Sorry for the wait... This will be full of Ranmaru's melodramatic narrating... (__-.-')_

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters.

Title: Stockholm Syndrome

3: Day Three

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I'm surprised at how well things worked out. I'd checked the map and sure enough, this beach was close, but not too close. And we were here only on the off-chance that Sunako took that great leap forward. Now that she had, we were steering up a mountain, a mere hour away from our destination. The distance was good; if we got there too quickly, she might be intimidated, too slow and she's psyche herself out... I'd learned that this timid Sunako was a tricky one to time.

Even before we neared the traditional-styled mansion, I knew this was a huge gamble. I hadn't spoken to Takenaga in years. And this appointment was scheduled under a false name, requesting the use of his expertise. I had used the family name, but told my secretary very strictly, to give him the impression that it was in no relation to me personally (should he refuse to be of service to me). This preemptive move would hopefully get him to think of me, of the past, and of the five of us...And then of Noi. But I didn't know where that would lead.

... We've reached the paved driveway, only half a mile left. I steal a shaky glance at Sunako... Was Takenaga benevolent in his nostalgia, or was he bitter? How would this all pan out? How would things affect Sunako?

I was being very selfless these days. Believe it or not, I'd have been very content to leave things as is and keep Sunako caged. I could choose to keep her wings broken in order to keep her with me... I could...

"Are you... _Sure_ you wanna do this?" God, I'm a bastard...

There's no response, so I glance at her once more as we pass through the gate. Her face is set with determination. Her eyebrows low, her eyes strong, mouth set to neutral. It is a more beautiful Sunako than I'd seen in the whole two years we'd been reunited. I could already feel her leaving me...

Coward. _Coward_.

I walk over the the passenger's side smoothly and open the door for her, helping her out of the car... And she grips my hand, firmly. As firm as ever, and doesn't let go after the valet takes the car to park. And somehow, this small gesture of hers gives me the strength to move forward.

This was it.

We couldn't look back any more. Soon I'd have to forget the sound of her voice in the morning, groggy and disoriented, and soothing. The feel of her skin on mine, soft and hot, searing and melting on mine. Her eyes, deep and beautiful, and never looking at me... Never really _seeing_ me...

The servants bow courteously as we enter, giving hesitant glances at our very informal (and slightly damp) appearances. I'd had my secretary arrange an appointment for tea with the head of the Oda Formal Ceremonies Company. Since the Oda's were the best, the arrangement seemed only natural, as was the invitation to their private estate, knowing the fantastic traditional decor would dazzle any employee of the flashy Mori Hotel's company.

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We were sent to the tea room. Sunako sat a conservative distance from me, and it was then that I realized she had let go of my hand as soon as we'd entered... _I was losing her_. And the thought of it began to tug at my chest, and tighten around the organ it protected. The pain forced me to wince it away and I wondered if Sunako had noticed... Had ever really been conscious of me...

I stole another glance at her... _Probably not_... Then her eyes widened, and a glance in the same direction presented me with the image of Takenaga, all grown up, bowing to us with a lowered gaze. I guess they were going for dramatic, trying to appeal to the Mori nature because he dove right into making the tea, suspending a tranquil, yet tense silence in the air. And his walk to the tea set was more graceful than need be. He was almost like a ghost, gliding across the tatami. Or maybe he had really changed, had become this... Smooth robot.

The thought made my eyes widen, and a sweat broke out along the temples of my forehead.

And then I heard a noise that released all of my tension. "Tch!" Takenaga had clicked his tongue. It was the sort of impatient gesture he used all the time when doing something he thought of as unnecessary. And I smiled and relaxed my shoulders and dried my hairline with the tips of my fingers.

I glanced at Sunako again, and her expression took a swipe at my heart. It looked like she was watching a ghost. Or more like a good dream was played back for her while conscious. She looked nostalgic.

Finally, Takenaga finished the tea, and at his own pace, set down my tea bowl, and then hers and relaxed in front of us. My breath caught. I was still as stone. Takenaga proceeded wholly unaware, an all-business smile pasted on his face, "please, feel free to stretch your legs..."

And finally he raised his gaze to meet ours. The look on his face was priceless. It would have been outright hilarious if I wasn't so terrified of what was might happen. I caught his gaze first, and then Sunako. Back to me, and then again to her and this time she held his gaze.

I caught myself making a face with eyebrows furrowed with worry and eyes set in fright while hers was the same stoned expression of quiet strength, which slowly began to soften right before the both of us. She spoke.

"Takenaga... It's been a long time."

As expected of him, he adjusted to fit the atmosphere. He tilted his head with a smile, "How've you been, Sunako?" But his expression was slightly pained. I could still see it, the guy I knew.

He was still the guy with a smart mouth, who lived with us those many years ago. Still the same considerate strength that kept us together. I could still read his face, I could still see the teenage friend inside this adult stranger. And I couldn't help blurting out our purpose, "We came to talk about Noi!"

Takenaga's face turned stony, and I saw the both of them grow rigid... Guess I'll never learn how to be tactful when it matters.

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_The suspense builds!!! What happened between all of them? Find out in the next chapter!!_

_(Sorry, I felt like writing a retarded angst summary like they do in most manga)_

PLEASE tell me what you think!!

_Peace and love,_

_NerdSavvy_


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